Low-current prewiring of a building consists in providing it, preferably while it is being built, with a network of communications cables and receptacles that can be adapted over a long period of time (e.g. fifty years) to connecting all types of equipment that need to communicate internally or externally such as telephones, computer or other terminals, controllers for technical control of the building, image transmission apparatuses, etc., with this being possible throughout the building.
To do this, the prewired network must be laid systematically throughout the building so that each room includes one or more connection receptacles each provided with at least one connector. A major technical problem is standardizing the receptacles, given the wide variety of low current connectors that exist on the market: it has been estimated that there are more than twenty different types of connector, and other types of connector will doubtless appear in the years to come.
In the past, receptacles have been connected to cables in the prewired network (generally four-pair cables or dual four-pair cables, or other types of cable), in one of the three following ways:
1. Direct connection of specific receptacles for a connector: each receptacle connector is connected directly to the cables of the prewired network. Under such circumstances, it is necessary to change the receptable and to wire in a new receptacle should it ever become necessary to connect equipment having a connector that does not correspond to the connector in the receptacle that is already installed. PA1 2. An intermediate contact strip is used having its contacts connected to the conductors of a cable in the prewired network and also to conductors connecting said contacts to a specific receptable of a connector: it is still necessary to change the receptacle and to perform new wiring if it becomes necessary to use a connector other than that which corresponds to the receptacle, but rewiring is facilitated and made quicker by the contact strip, particularly if its contacts are insulation-displacement contacts. PA1 3. The prewired network is connected to a single type of specific intermediate connector situated inside the housings of the receptacles. The housings of the receptacles thus contain interface connectors which plug in to said intermediate connectors and enable different types of apparatus to be connected to the prewired network. When a new type of apparatus having a different type of connector is to be connected to the network, it is necessary to change the interface connector, but such a change is very quick since it is done merely by plugging in a new connector on the intermediate connector and there is no need to alter the wiring. PA1 a fixed base including a front portion provided with a first intermediate connector connected to a cable of a prewired network, said cable being provided with a plurality of conductors; and PA1 a removable external adaptor housing including a rear portion suitable for fixing over the front portion of the base, said rear portion being provided with a second intermediate connector complementary to said first intermediate connector and being adapted to connect to said first intermediate connector when the adaptor housing is fixed on the base, said adaptor housing also including an electrical device connected to said second intermediate connector to communicate with the prewired network.
Document WO 88/02 190 describes a typical example of solution 3 above. However, such receptacles suffer from several drawbacks. Firstly, the intermediate connector is specific to a particular manufacturer and is specifically designed to be used as an intermediate connector in a receptacle. As a result it is made in relatively small numbers and is thus relatively expensive. In addition, the receptacle is specifically adapted to receive "modular jack" type interface connectors which are small in size. Because said interface connectors are situated inside the housing of the receptacle, there is no way in which they can be replaced by bulkier interface connectors. As a result, if it is necessary to connect apparatus fitted with a bulkier connector to the prewired network, it is necessary to dismantle the entire receptacle and replace it with a receptacle provided with the desired connector. Moreover, the receptacle disclosed in Document WO 88/02 190 needs to be dismantled whenever an interface connector is to be replaced, and this can lead to said receptacle being damaged.
An object of the present invention is to solve these technical problems.